It's not a party 'til Moaning Myrtle rolls in.

Redditor Katie's family has forgotten her birthday in the past, so when Katie turned 28 last Tuesday, her best friend made up for less-than-magical celebrations from previous years by transfiguring Katie's home into the world of Harry Potter.

Decades before Peter Jackson came along and forced mainstreamers to complain about long movies and rich stories, legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was churning out masterful, lengthy epics likeSeven Samurai, and he did so at a rate of nearly one movie every year throughout the '50s and '60s. He is regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. And since tomorrow is his birthday, you can celebrate by watching 24 of his Criterion films for free on Hulu. Happy Birthday, Kurosawa!

Today is Carl Sagan's birthday, which, if there were any justice in the world, would be celebrated in the fashion we've become accustomed to for nerds of note -- with a Google Doodle commemorating the day that one of the world's best and brightest science celebrities was expelled from the womb. As there is clearly no justice in the world, though, Sagan's birthday was overlooked by Google's legions of doodlers, who were no doubt exhausted by celebrating Bram Stoker's big 165 yesterday. I don't think we need to tell you why this is clearly unacceptable. Read More

Awwwwww

Nest of Vellum captured this caterpillar for a friend's insect collection, and to make up for the grisly fate to which they had resigned it, they decided to throw it a birthday party.
The pictures came out so cute, though, that they had no choice but to return it to the wild.
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What's the best birthday gift for the man who has everything? How about the cold, clammy touch of death's inevitable embrace? A study on over 2 million people over the course of 40 years show that birthday deaths are strikingly more common than you might think, especially when attributed to heart attack, stroke, suicide, or falls. Poisoned cakes, though not mentioned in the study, are surely a culprit as well.

All this has happened before...

Yesterday was the birthday of Commander Shepard, hero of the Alliance Navy. Sunday, we can give Uncle Jesse many happy returns, two days later the same will do for Sydney Barstow, and good old April 1st is the birthday of Fred and George Weasley (they'd be thirty-three this year, and incidentally they're exactly the same age, to the day, as Bart Simpson). Hit the jump for one or more fictional character birthdays for every day in the month!
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Besides his feud with nerd icon (nerdicon?) Nikola Tesla and having a middle name of "Alva," what do you really know about Thomas Edison? Probably not much, and since it's his birthday it's only appropriate that you let Jeremiah Warren teach you a little something. Go on, learning is good for you.
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